Living with Myself
by Alex Damien
Summary: Link has to get rid of Dark Link before anybody finds out, but why is Dark Link so laid back about it? Pairings LinkXSheikXDark Link, Yaoi
1. Chapter 1

It was hard to convince Zelda that he didn't wanted to live in the castle. He had to talk about nostalgia and the house of his childhood, and he had almost given up when Zelda brought up that she didn't think that he would fit in his childhood house. But he had managed. Somehow. Now all he had to do was figure out how to get rid of Dark Link without anybody noticing he was there in the first place.

"Another round! On him!" shouted Dark to the drunken patrons of the bar, who were happy to cheer him for more free wine. Link sighed, alcohol was the only way Dark had agreed to cover himself so nobody would recognize him, but he was running out of money already, and he still had to find somewhere to live until he could get rid of his shadow

He had come out of a mirror, so maybe he could use another mirror to seal him. All the thinking and worrying was giving him a headache, and he was starting to accept the idea that he would need to build a house as far as possible from any villages or cities. But then Dark would get bored soon, and he didn't want the episode with Epona to repeat. It had taken him ages to get the horrified horse back to shore.

"Link!" said Dark, latching to Link's shoulder, he had gone through so many bottles of wine, Link had stopped counting "I know ye'r mad at me, but come on! Have fun! Ya need to get more social life, what's the point o' savin' the world if ya ain't gonna 'njoy it?"

Link grunted and looked at his own cup of tea. They were leaving as soon as he finished.

He blinked, hadn't he said that before?

He gave Dark a look.

"What?! Another round 's another for everyone!"

Link drank all of it and got up. It was going to be a long, long night followed by long, long days.

**2**

Sometimes Link felt that more than a hero, he was just the luckiest guy ever. He stumbled into adventures, found items that proved themselves vital to his quests, and important people seemed to like him at first sight. In fact, his own dark side liked him enough to not engage in battle every time they saw, he was even okay with Link wanting to get rid of him. Link wasn't sure if Dark acted like that because he was sure he would never manage it, or…

The night when Dark had came out of the mirror. Link had already known he was inside himself, waiting for a way to escape. How had he escaped from the Dark Realm? Had it been him who released him? Link feared that he had been.

He sat down on the floor of the little abandoned house he had found, next to the pile of books he had brought from his kokiri forest house in hopes that there would be something that showed how to get rid of your embodied shadow.

Most of his quests, and all of his problems, started with dreams; and Dark had been the weirdest one.

In his dream, he went too deep on the dream world, and in the end, saw himself, trapped in the Dark Realm. An infinite prison of white mist where the air itself seemed to hung heavy with expectation around him and this person, exactly like him, who looked out to the emptiness of it with unseeing eyes. He reached out to him, not knowing which one of the two was really himself, when the vacant eyes fixed on him, and the Link in the Dark Realm spoke, with a voice made of pure energy that fell right to Link's heart. And like a drop of poison that contaminated a glass of water, Link felt the presence of the other's expanding inside of him, embracing his very soul.

He woke up, and stumbled out towards the bathroom, feeling himself disoriented. The room seemed to sway with every step he took, as if he was seeing it through two pairs of eyes. As he reached the mirror he saw his eyes shone red, and his reflection gave him a psychotic smile in return. The thing embracing his soul let go, and Link fainted.

When he woke up, Dark Link sat next to him, singing a song about the sky.

Link put down the last book he had read. There was nothing, and the only person who could help him was the one that should never find out. If Zelda knew of Dark Link's existence she would no doubt call all the sages and do something drastic, like messing up with time again. And Link wanted anything but that.

Dark's deep voice reached Link from the kitchen among the noise of clattering pans and burning food. How his shadow managed to never get a hangover was beyond him and he didn't cared, but what drove him mad, was the song he sang all the time.

"_As you sway your feet float in the sky...  
As you sway you are drawn to the sky..."_

**3**

Link entered the kitchen and Dark Link gave him his sharpest grin. Even if Link didn't move, Dark saw him flinch in the depths of his eyes.

"Hungry?" he asked, and dropped a bowl of something in front of Link, this time he visibly recoiled. "There wasn't much in the house, so I went out and killed something. Dun' know what it was, but it smells tasty"

Link sighed and got up.

"I'm not hungry" he said, in the soft, hoarse voice of someone who doesn't talks even with himself. "I'll go fish something for dinner"

"Pfft, fishing's boring. Let's go hunting, the people on the village nearby looked meaty" Link blinked, squinted, and looked at the bowl in the table. "No, that was some kind of animal, I didn't want to walk all the way to the village to get breakfast, and the horse won't let me get on it. I need a horse of my own. A black one…A _male_ one. Or move to the city."

"We're not going to move anywhere if you keep spending all the money on booze"

Dark Link shrugged

"'s better than spending it on arrows"

"We need arrows"

"And we need booze, I refuse to live on tea!"

Someone knocked on the door.

Both warriors fell silent

"Hide" whispered Link

"Where?"

"Can't you, hide in the shadows or something"

"Do I really have to?"

They heard giggles from the other side of the door and more knocking, then the soft voice of princess Zelda said

"Link? Are you there? I brought a present to celebrate you getting a new house!"

"I'm going!" said Link, and Dark hit him on the head

"You idiot! Why did you answer?! She would have left!"

"Hide _somewhere_!"

Dark gritted his teeth and jumped on Link's shadow. He didn't minded the darkness, he _was_ darkness. But what made him edgy was the feeling of being in Link's shadow. He felt that if he stayed there too long, in the soft silence of the shadows, he would lose himself to it.

Link opened the door and found Zelda, Saria and Malon, who gave him three brightly decorated packages. He smiled softly and let them inside.

"How cute!" said Saria, then sniffed "is something on the stove?"

"Yes" answered Dark, and Link ran to the kitchen. Dark jumped to the shadow of the table in the center of the entrance. The uncomfortable new shadow felt like he was being pressed against stone walls, but the pain made him more aware of himself, unlike the comfortable space of Link's shadow, which felt like home; because it was.

Link came back, and indicated them to sit down.

"I'll bring tea" he said in a voice like a whisper.

"He's getting better" said Zelda, with pride in her voice, and Dark huffed

_As if you had anything to do with it, princess _he thought. He may be the darkness, but as such, he knew the hidden depths of the other side of himself. And knew that he had to get away from them all to get better. To realize that he wasn't a puppet of destiny.

"Of course," said Saria, looking around at the odd trinkets thrown about that Link had collected in his travels "all he needed was some rest. He'll be fine soon"

Dark wanted to bite her arm off. Link wouldn't be fine. Ever.

And neither would he, but between the two of them, they could get better. He rolled his eyes, wanting to jump to the shadows of the stairs and hide in the room, but Zelda was too close to him, and would sense him easily. Even the small jump he made to the table had been almost too much. Lucky for him, Zelda was distracted.

But she had felt something. Dark knew it by seeing the way she looked with hard eyes at every corner of the house. Too bad for the little princess, she thought Link was only at the mercy of darkness. She missed on the things that truly left scars on him.

Link came back with a small wooden tray.

"How's it been going for you Link? Isn't it a bit far from everything?" Link smiled and shook his head. From his position, Dark could see the small trembling of his hands. Good acting, but he was still worried that Dark would jump out at any moment and expose both of them. Which he _could_ do, of course. But he was evil, not _dumb_.

"Are you coming to the city for the carnival at the solstice?" asked Malon, and Link looked down.

"I'm not sure. I have some things to do, and…"

"You have to go out some times Link!" said Zelda. "I'd wish you reconsidered the idea of living on the castle. My father has said he likes you a lot."

Link stared at his cup and tapped it with a finger.

Dark knew that even if he didn't exist, Link would have refused. The people, the guards, all those faces he knew but who didn't remember what had happened. Only the sages and some members of the council were allowed to remember. And even that, for some, was too much. To remember your own death, to be haunted by your own desperation every night.

It had driven some of them mad.

"I'll try to get to the carnival. I just want to go through all this junk. I won't need it anymore and I'm not sure what to do with it. Even on this bigger house, it still takes a lot of space."

Zelda nodded, and dropped the subject. That promise was more than enough.


	2. Chapter 2

In the middle of the sandstorm, Dark pulled Link against him just to shout in his ear

"I hate the desert!"

Link pushed him away, but kept their hands strongly linked. They had to keep running or the phantom guide would leave them behind.

After what seemed like hours of running, the spirit temple appeared before them, and with a last cackle the guide vanished. Dark collapsed to the ground, quickly getting covered by the sand.

"No! Get up, I don't want to find out what happens to me if you die!" Dark only grumbled incoherently in response.

"Tell me again why we couldn't just teleport here"

"Dark, _please_" said Link, pulling him up. Finally the shadow deigned to stand. "Nabooru and Zelda would have felt it if I did. We don't have much time as it is, Nabooru's at some party on the castle, so…"

Dark pulled up fistfuls of sand.

"A party of what?"

"I think it's some kind of ball"

"Why would they make a party for a ball? Does the princes has to make parties for her toys?"

When Link turned around to tell his shadow how much of an idiot he was being, he found the other's hand inside his shirt and sand falling all the way to his pants.

"Noooo!" but by the time he had shouted, Dark had already pulled his green cap over his eyes and ran to the temple. "Whyy? Goddesses, I hate myself!"

Link caught up with his shadow deep, deep inside the temple.

"I thought you would never arrive" said Dark, leaning against a wall and looking at his fingernails.

"How the hell did you dodge all the traps?"

"I didn't. I moved through the shadows when I found something I couldn't cross. Did you know the gerudos have a changing room in here?"

Link opened his mouth, but knew the answer before he could ask the question, so he jumped straight to the order.

"You're giving that underwear back"

"But it's so comfortable!"

Link blocked out everything his shadow said from then on.

Around them the spirit temple hummed with power. After Ganondorf had been sealed and Zelda had put time back together they had become the rulers of the country, becoming far more powerful than Link had ever thought possible, mastering abilities that awed him beyond anything. They had offered to train him, to make him powerful, and in an unspoken question, to marry Zelda.

But he couldn't even stomach the idea. To become a powerful king and rule the most powerful kingdom in the continent, it all seemed like too much to someone like him, who delighted in fishing at the lake and read books on a cabin deep in the forest. He was a hero, he would never deny or forget that, but true heroes never became kings. It was one of the things you learned after it was all over.

"Stop dwelling on it" said Dark, as they entered the central room with the huge statue of a woman. Link frowned at the reminder that they could share their thoughts.

"I'm not"

"Of course you are, you keep wondering if you should have stayed in the city, if they still need you. But they don't. All they wanted was for you to destroy Ganondorf and restore them to power, now all they'll use you for is as a pretty jewel on their shiny pretence of a perfect royalty"

"Stop it. Why should I even listen to you? You tried to kill me!"

"But then, who would really _listen_ to you" said Dark, with a seductive wink as he leaned against the railing of the stairs

And Link wanted to hit him, to hit him again and again, even if he would feel the same pain. Because he already was feeling it, because he was starting to understand that now even if he found a way to get rid of his shadow, he wouldn't do it. He couldn't even imagine going back to the absolute loneliness he had isolated himself in. He didn't want the company of the people he had saved, but he still longed for someone.

His heart skipped a beat, and he understood why Dark had been so confident about Link wanting to get rid of him.

He knew.

He knew that Link had called him, in his dreams, wanting to talk to someone who would understand, who would _remember_.

And who could understand him better, but his own self?

Link took a step forward, opening his mouth to speak, when something beneath them caught his attention. Laying in the altar at the feet of the gerudo goddess, was Sheik.


	3. Chapter 3

Dark's smirk vanished as he saw Link's surprised face.

"Link?!" he turned around and saw Sheik laying on the altar. Thinking the same thoughts they both jumped to the ground and ran towards him. Link slowed down a few steps away from the altar. Unsure of what to do.

"What is Zelda doing here?" he asked, remembering that the friend he had trusted was never real.

"Think I should hide?" asked Dark, and at the same time Link nodded, Dark vanished in his shadow.

Link took a few steps and tried to touch Zelda, but his hands suddenly burned and he retreated with a yelp. For a few seconds he saw something flash around the altar, a kind of shield.

"Zelda?" he called, determination finally settling in. "Zelda, can you hear me?"

"Of course she can't, asshat" said Dark from his shadow "If she could she would have already said something. You need to destroy the shield"

"But I might hurt her" he leaned as close as he could, and looked at the only eye visible beneath the locks of golden hair; closed as if sleeping.

"The energy on the shield feels familiar, but new…" mused Link's shadow

"I know, it's like a combination. There's Nabooru's …and Rauru's, I think. Maybe they're doing some kind of new technique? Maybe we shouldn't interfere"

Dark came out of the shadow and stepped next to Link

"I don't think so, look" he pointed to the thick layer of dust on the altar and the floor around it. Dust that would have needed months, even years to settle.

"What is going on in here" growled Link, starting to get angry. He then opened his pack and took out the medallions, not caring if the sages sensed their energy. If they did, all the better, they would have much to answer soon.

"Hold this and stand at the opposite of me" Link ordered to Dark as he stood near Zelda's head

"Uhmm, maybe I shouldn't stay here if all hell breaks loose. I don't really like friendly parties, and I'm sure your friends won't like me"

"I don't care. They have a lot to explain, and I'm free to do whatever I want. If they ask, I separated from my shadow to have someone to talk with and that's it"

Dark closed his mouth and frowned. Link was settling back into his old "Ruthless Hero" act and one didn't want to be near him when he did that. Dark knew it by experience, Link had almost killed him when he did, back in the Water Temple.

They both stood opposing each other and held out the medallions. The light energy burned at Dark's hands, but he said nothing and covered his feelings so Link couldn't sense them.

The shield around the altar became visible. Swirling energy of light and spirit, draining it's power from the past and present, from one extreme of Hyrule to the other. Link growled and unleashed the power of the medallion, Dark moved too, as if he were a mere mirror image of the hero. Dark smiled at the thought of it, knowing that it was true.

The shield started to dissolve as it's energy flowed through the medallions, slowly it thinned until the last particles vanished. Inside, Zelda drew a long, deep breath.

"She's awakening!" shouted Link and dropped the medallion to lift her up.

"Oh, happiness…" said Dark bitterly as he dropped the medallion like it was on fire. He took off his cap and wiped the blood from his arms as quickly as he could, then hid the cap on his pocket.

"Zelda? What happened to you? What's going on?" asked Link.

A bright red eye opened and the person sat up, nearly hitting Link in the process.

"What is this?! Who has brought me here?!" shouted a definitely masculine voice.

"S-sheik?!" stuttered Link, taking a few steps back. Sheik turned his head towards him, then towards the shadow still standing near the altar.

"I'll give you half a minute to tell me what is happening here, before I attack" he said this while looking directly at the shadow, his hands suddenly full of throwing daggers.

"No! Wait, we just found you! We had no idea you were here or why you're here, and…I thought you weren't real!"

Sheik's eyes widened

"Not real? Hero, I have guided you through six temples and you suddenly think I'm not real? What is going on, is this another of Ganondorf's trickeries?"

"What? Ganondorf? What are you talking about? He's been trapped for…wait, how long have you been here?"

"First tell me what is that _thing_"

Dark Link was looking at Sheik's legs delightedly, and gave Link an amused look. He had already understood, but Link was decided to _not_ understand.

"T-that's…my shadow. Uhm, he escaped from the sacred realm"

"I had a little help with my amazing escape, of course" said Dark, looking at his fingernails again, as if not really caring what happened.

"But he's not evil! Don't hurt him, please, just… please, tell me what happened. Who are you?"

Sheik's grasp on his daggers strengthened.

"_Who am I? _Have you hit your head, hero? I am Sheik, of the Sheikah. I am your guide. Now explain to me why was I asleep in the Temple of the Spirit?"

"Zelda said you were a lie"

"What?"

Link looked downward, unwilling to see Sheik in the eyes.

"In the Temple of Time, she transformed and said that it had been her all along"

Sheik seemed confused for a moment.

"How long have I been here?" he finally asked, his voice soft as a whisper

"I don't-"

"How Long?"

"Counting time forward from the moment I saw Zelda on the Temple of Time…almost nine years."

Sheik let his arms fall, his gaze suddenly blank.

"W-what?...Nine years…here?" he whispered. Link knelt next to him, smiling to keep his tears in check.

"You're real. I can't believe I found you" he hugged the Sheikah, who seemed to calm down. They walked to the stairs and sat down there.

"I can't remember anything" said Sheik "After I taught you the spirit temple song, I went back to the princess to inform her, and…I think something hit me. I don't know. Was I under some kind of spell or curse? This could have been a trap of Ganondorf's minions"

"Sheik…Ganondorf's gone. Everything of him has vanished into a sealed alternate timeline…This wasn't done by him."

"Then why, who?...and how do we know he's not in this too?!" he pointed at the Shadow

"I was imprisoned for almost as long as you were. If Link hadn't gotten me out of the Sacred Realm, I would still be there now. Also, it was _my_ idea to come here, so you could at least be nice to me"

"You got him out of the Sacred Realm?"

Link sighed. He always had to stumble into these things, whether he liked it or not, and now a new mystery reared it's ugly head. But he wasn't about to complain, after he had gotten back his only friend.

"It's kind of a long story. But now we don't have much time, we must get to the sacred altar before Nabooru, the sage of spirit realizes we're here. I need to see what I can do about…a dark object."

"You might want to hold back on calling us 'Dark', Sheik will get a wrong impression if you keep that up. I mean, we've been housemates for more than half a year, so…"

Sheik shook his head, tiredness overcoming the instinct of battle always ready to jump up at the minor provocation. Link looked at him and gave him a sad smile, he remembered how tired, confused and sick he felt after waking up in the temple of time.

"How about you just explain me everything that happened in order? We'll deal with what it all means later" said the Sheikah, and they all got up to go to the altar in the gerudo goddess.


	4. Chapter 4

"A shield made of light and spirit power, that's…surprising." Said Sheik, in a tone that told that the word wasn't _surprising_ but something far harsher. After all, the only ones who could have done that were Nabooru and Rauru. Link also undertstood that, but he had more than enough to worry about, and wanted to take things one by one. That had always helped him deal with everything before, and few things were worse than having a monstrous moon hanging over you all the time, waiting for you to screw up and fall.

"Yes."

"But you came here to get rid of an object, one that you don't want anyone to know. Since I'm already here" Link gritted his teeth at Sheik's cold tone "I think I can know what it is. It can't be worse than seeing the physical embodiment of your darkness, can it?"

"Hey, pretty boy, I'm Right. Here." Growled Dark "And it is way, way worse than me. How's it about facing a demented god?"

"He's not mad" said Link, angry at that. He felt like defending the deity, but didn't know why.

"Just very close to it"

They stared at the hole in the floor in front of them, and before Link could say anything, Sheik jumped into it. Link could feel Dark snickering behind him before he hid in his shadow. He jumped down too.

"What now?" asked Sheik

"Uh?"

"Well, since you jumped too, you must know a way to get from here to there" he pointed to the entrance on the goddess' face.

"Oh, yes. Here" he took out his hookshot, and bumped head first into the reason Dark had snickered and hid in his shadow "Uh, I'm gonna have to…we're going to…The hookshot will…"

Sheik raised an eyebrow.

"Do I have to hold on to you?"

"Y-yeah, that…yes."

Sheik crossed his arms and looked hard at him. Then he laughed. The sound echoed in the stone hall, making Link feel very small.

"You are…much better than I remember you, hero"

"Better?" asked Link, trying hard not to think about how different the word hero sounded, coming from Sheik's lips. Instead of making it sound like a burden, Sheik said it like it was just something he was, a part of him.

"You seem…happier. I'd always been very concerned about you…I thought, that if it we didn't made it, I would at least want you to have some moments of happiness…I'm sorry I never got to do it."

"Don't be sorry! I…well, you're my best friend Sheik"

Beneath Link's feet, his shadow prickled at his feet.

"I'm still Right Here. Am I not counted in your friends?"

"No."

"I'm hurt"

"Well, you could be…something like my family, maybe. My twin brother?"

"Ooh, I'm the evil twin! I love it! Sheik can be the hot blonde we both fight for"

A sheikah dagger hit the shadow, but Dark only laughed.

"Eh, don't mind him, he just wants to be mean."

"I'm sure he does"

Link gave Sheik back the dagger and pointed the hookshot towards the entrance, but his ai wavered when the sheikah held on to him with both arms.

"Haven't been practicing?" asked Sheik, looking at the tiny red dot moving all over the statue. Link laughed nervously.

"Yeah, there hasn't, uhm, been much to do" he straightened his aim, focusing on the door, and not in how oddly warm was Sheik's body, for someone trapped in a magical shield for nearly a decade.

Or how he still smelled the same exotic scent as he did in the war. He still couldn't aim.

And suddenly, something grabbed hold of him, from inside. Something cold, buzzing with energy, grabbed his wrist and pointed at the door firmly and shot.

"_If I leave it to you I'll never get out of here"_ said a far away voice in his mind.

The sensation was gone when they landed, and Sheik said nothing, but let go of him too fast. As if wanting to get away.

"I had to hold you when I shot. Sorry, I just had to, uhm, make sure you didn't fall"

"I know. Let's go"

Shadow materialized next to Link.

"Did you touched him?"

"No"

"You should have"

Link tried to strangle him, but sheik called them to the altar, so he just made a mental note of it.

They hiked the altar. It looked like it hadn't been used in years, and the silence in it felt heavy.

"How are you going to get him out?" asked Sheik, and Link felt like iced fire ran through his veins. He hadn't planned what to tell him there.

"Him?"

"The one who possessed you back in the platform"

"You heard him?"

"No. I saw him" he turned and pointed at his red eye, then at the eye painted in his chest "Sheikah eyes. I can see spirits. I was going to joke about how you couldn't aim, but when I looked up, you weren't there, it was this…odd, very tall person. With white hair, I couldn't see him clearly, but I knew it wasn't you"

"…I'm sorry, I didn't know how to explain it."

"Whatever he is, we need to get him out of you. If he can possess your body, he can have access to the power of the triforce"

Link pulled the mask out of his pack, while Dark paced around the altar, looking at the designs in the tapestry.

"I didn't know he could possess me while I wasn't wearing the mask. He never tried it before. He must be getting restless."

"I would." Said Dark

"It doesn't matters. What do we do now?" asked Sheik, looking at the mask, but unwilling to touch it.

"I don't know. I hadn't thought this far. I thought of using the power of the medallions, but…I don't know how."

"What about using that song the masks man taught you? The one that sounds like hundreds of hearts floating around."

"Hmm, well, that would be good; but I don't have the ocarina of time anymore. Even if I played the song on my ocarina it would be no good."

"I could play it in my harp. I'm not as good with magic as her highness, but I think I could manage." Said Sheik, taking out a harp. Dark narrowed his eyes and looked him up and down. The he felt him under the cloth in his chest. Sheik hit him with the harp.

"What are you doing?!"

Link was too busy trying not to faint from bloodloss.

"Where do you _carry_ that? I mean, where do you put it in, there is just no space in your clothes."

"Do that again, and-"

"Fine." Dark reached at him, and found a dagger in the middle of his forehead "Ah, sarcasm, yeah. I get it now."

"I can explain it more clearly if you need me to." Said Sheik, showing two more knives in his hand.

"No, no, is alright really." Dark pulled the dagger out of his forehead, a black liquid dribbled down, smelling like smoke. "But you should perhaps ask first before attacking the mirror image of your hero" he pointed at link, who had pulled his cap down almost to his eyes to hide the wound.

"I'm fine." He said, and slowly fell to the floor.


	5. Chapter 5

When he woke up again, Sheik was sitting next to him, and Dark sat on the opposite side. He still reeked of smoke and blood.

"Whut?" asked Link, blinking, but the light from the torches hurt his eyes. Sheik looked down at him, concern in his eyes.

"Why didn't you say you two were linked?"

Link laughed, and Sheik put down the paper he had been reading.

"Are you alright? Link? Can you understand me?"

"He's fine, he's just dizzy." Said Dark. Link realized what he was doing and stopped laughing.

"uh…I…I didn't know. I never tried to hurt myself, and we never really fought like this. But, it's nice to know it now."

"I was so worried. I cured you with a red potion you had on you." He narrowed his only visible eye. "You should have told me that you didn't know what you two shared. If I had known you had such a deep bond, sharing thoughts and emotions, I would have never…"

"What? Bond?"

"I explained it all to him, Blondie A" said Dark, pulling him up.

"Blondie A?"

"Yep. You're Blondie A, he's Blondie B. I'm the hot dark haired evil twin, but I haven't decided what Oni is."

"I think I'm not the only one hallucinating."

"He's been blabbing gibberish all this time. You two go sit over there until you stop hallucinating, I'll play the song to the mask." Sheik shooed them away, and stood near the mask, which laid in the center of the tapestry.

With each step Link felt himself much better, and the sound of Sheik's harp soothed his worries.

"We should kidnap him and make him play for us every day." Said Dark, looking at Sheik with a sharp grin.

"He'll go back to the castle."

"A bad idea, considering the ones most likely to have put him in that altar are there."

"We can't be sure."

"You just don't want to accept that it's the truth."

"And why would Zelda and the sages do that? Sheik was always the most loyal to them."

"Well, he doesn't seems the same, does he?"

"What do you mean?"

"Doesn't he looks a bit…different? He doesn't seems as worried for going to the castle, or making sure Zelda is alright. He was always so obsessive back then."

"Yes. But…well, you know how awkward it is to suddenly wake up and find you've spent the past decade sleeping." Something inside Link moved, and he felt like throwing up. The scar in his forehead itched.

"But he woke up and sprinted into action, like he did back then. Now he's just…so calm. I don't know. You know what I mean, don't make me put it into words."

"Yes. But…I like that he seems much calmer. He needed to relax a bit." Link wanted to relax, with every note, his heart quickened, and he felt like he had lost something important. He tried to remember what it was.

"The calm before the storm?"

"You're always such a bastard."

"With Sheik, it seems like the most likely. Stop trying to avoid what you already know, pretending like it's not there won't make it go away."

"I should know, right. I've been trying that with you for half a year." He wanted to push Dark away, and stumbled to the left.

In the center of the altar, the mask didn't move as the song reached the end.

Until the final note.

Link fell to his knees in the ground, his eyes fixed on the mask, which didn't move or did anything. Sheik peered at it.

"I don't think it's…" he turned around, and looked straight at Link. "There he is!"

Link felt himself get up, and leave something behind. Then he walked to the mask, and put it on.

The world vanished.


	6. Chapter 6

He woke up again and found Dark carried him on his back. They were walking out of the gerudo fortress and he could hear the rushing sound of the waterfalls.

"W-what happened?" he asked, but didn't move.

"He's awake" said a deep voice behind them, and Link's heart skipped a beat. The person walked next to him, and Link had to look up at the cloaked figure.

"The Fierce Deity?"

"Not anymore. Or maybe…something like it. His name's Oni Link. Pretty neat, eh. You just got an older brother, Blondie A." said Dark. Link groaned.

"How long have I been asleep, and can someone tell me what happened?"

"I can carry him now." Said Sheik

"No, you're too tiny, love."

"If I could tear you apart."

"If only. It's Oni's turn, he's been tagging along for free all this time."

"I don't want to carry him."

"Neither do I. Oh, the irony. Catch!"

Link's stomach did a backwards flip when he felt himself being thrown from one man to the other, and his vision turned black. When he could hear again, he felt a pair of hands in his throat.

"You're going to kill him and all of you with your stupidity!" shouted Sheik

"S-sheik, you're hurting him." Gasped Dark, and Link could see Sheik had tackled him to the ground and tried to strangulate him.

"It's for a good cause."

"I support him." Said Oni, and Link realized he was on the deity's back. Link's own body still felt like a heavy thing over him and he couldn't move.

"What happened?" he asked again, and Sheik freed the shadow.

"When I finished the song nothing happened, but when I turned around, I saw that you had transformed into the deity."

"I'm here, you know." Said Oni

"Goddesses, they're the same." Muttered Sheik. "I'm not sure what happened. Dark said he didn't see anything, that you just fainted, and _Oni_ says that he can't remember exactly what he did. But I think that I saw him because he was trying to exit your body, and saw him as a kind of…_ghost_, when he went to the mask and took his body from it. That's all, but you have been asleep for half a day."

"Shortest magical nap I've had."

Sheik smiled, and Link felt happy that he'd left down his mask.

"How are you feeling?"

"As if I've been ran over by Ganon. I want to move, but I don't have enough strength. Sorry, uh, Oni."

"It's fine."

"You need rest. There is a small village nearby, and we can spend the night there. It would have been easier to wait until tomorrow at the temple, but I thought you wouldn't like it. With what you said about the spirit sage." Said Sheik, pulling his mask back up.

"Ah…yes. But, you don't have to stay with me. If you want to hurry to the castle, you could get there first hour tomorrow."

Sheik shook his face, and Link noticed how the mask changed his appearance completely, made him look more dangerous, made his fiery red eyes darker. But he couldn't be sure that Sheik hadn't changed his mood too. The mystery intrigued him, even if it also scared him. Sheik, for all the worry and politeness he showed towards him, could easily kill any man faster than the blink of an eye. And even more, he would not think twice about doing it.

"I won't leave you alone."

"He's not alone." Said Dark, picking a tiny bunny by the ears. "I brought him dinner."

"Being with yourself is not considered company." Said Sheik "And leave that alone, we'll eat at the village."

"It looked tasty."

Link smiled.

"Nothing's tasty after you cook it."

"If you weren't so picky with the food and just eat it raw like me…"


	7. Chapter 7

Sheik left the three Links in the room on the second floor and walked downstairs to get dinner. His body still buzzed with all the repressed emotions from the day. Too much had happened, too fast.

Or too slow, depending on how you saw it. The irony of things always made Sheik smile tensely.

After he ordered dinner, he went outside to look at the stars. He couldn't remember anything from his sleep, but he felt a desire to see the stars again that he couldn't explain. His self had missed them.

"_Shortest magical nap I've had."_

The memory made him laugh, and a few passers by stared at him. Sheik watched them resume walking in the silent summer night. So Ganondorf had really been defeated. He needed no more proof than to see the people walk around the village, talking animatedly with each other and laughing.

He'd missed laughing so much. Which made it all better to hear Link laugh. Most things were getting better than he had expected. Even if at the same time, others turned out darker and more dangerous than he could understand.

He couldn't even understand why the sages would do such a thing. True, he didn't know them all that well at all, but they were all fighting for the same reasons.

The only thing he could think about was that they'd somehow decided that Sheik posed a threat. And if they thought so, there were only two answers: That he was indeed a treath to them at that point in the war, for reasons Sheik couldn't understand but possibly involved Ganon's magic. That, or there was a traitor among them. And if the second alternative was right, the traitor was still around, and even worse, around princess Zelda.

He'd wanted to run to Zelda the moment he'd been told what had happened, but after hearing Link's story, he couldn't leave his side. Something had happened, and Link hadn't explained even half of it.

Sheik knew when things started to get out of control, and right now they were far, far from any kind of order.

He felt the shadow before he made himself known by ticking at Sheik's ankles.

"Dinner's served, sir"

Sheik looked down at the living shadow smirking at him from the ground, and in his eyes he saw a tinge of blue, shining just under the surface.

He had known from the first moment, that he couldn't destroy him.


	8. Chapter 8

"Maybe he shouldn't have gone get Sheik" said Link, lying on the bed. The deity sat on the window sill, looking out to the sky. "Are you really a god?" finally asked Link, since Oni had barely spoken since they were on gerudo territory.

"Yes."

"Then, why couldn't you get out of the mask yourself? Why didn't you forced me to help, if you could possess me like you did back then."

The deity threw a glance back at Link, who couldn't know what he was feeling. He could feel the soul bond between them, but it wasn't as strong as the one with Dark. He wanted to see what was happening in his head, but didn't dare get any deeper on their bond.

"I am a deity. But I am not the mask. You are a deity too, and when you put on the mask, you left a part of your divinity in it. That part is me."

"What? Me? A deity?"

"Not anymore though, in a way."

"But-"

"The divinity in you is now in me, but since we are still linked to each other…we could, in a way become one and you would go back to being a deity. Like you did with the mask."

"But I only became…_you_ when I put on the mask, so why…?" Oni walked towards him, and Link sat up. He still didn't had much energy, but he could move a little more, and his body felt less detached from him.

"Before putting on the mask, you still had a bit of divinity in you. When you put on the mask, it amplified the divinity in you. You became one, linked by the divine energy. But your mortal body wasn't a good vessel for a god, so to make sure you didn't die, I locked myself between the mask and you. In that act, I acquired a certain…_consciousness_. I was a separate person, with the personality of the fierce deity in the mask, but still modeled in your image and bound to you. The reason I couldn't get out of the mask is that you didn't want to let me out. You were afraid of the deity in the mask and at the same time you wanted to get rid of me, you sealed me deeper inside you. Possess you to force my escape would have been the same as fighting with myself, it couldn't be done. I managed it on the temple, because you wanted to do what I did, but were too distracted by feeling the sheikah."

Link's face turned red.

"I wasn't!"

"Yes you were. But that doesn't matters anymore. I am free now."

"Hmmm, you're not going to try anything now, are you? I mean, we're the same person, so…"

"Try anything?"

"Like killing me or anything? Or hurting those I love?"

"Killing you would destroy me just like you killing me would destroy you. The shadow knew, but didn't want to tell you."

"Why?"

Oni shrugged.

"Maybe it amused him. Maybe he thought that it would be easier to have you search for the answer than telling it to you. Maybe he didn't thought you'd care about destroying yourself in exchange for destroying an evil being. I think it's the last one, and if you think about it for a while, you'll agree."

Link sank back against the pillow. Things were getting too out of control for him, and he didn't have the energy to deal with it all at the moment.

Which was completely absurd. He had faced much worse things, solved dazzling riddles, fought armies, and…he was tired.

The thought hit him so much, it was the only thing he could think about for a few moments.

He was tired. It wasn't that he didn't have the energy to deal with it all, to find the answers and fight his darker sides, but that he simply didn't want to do it. He was tired of it all, and just wanted to lay in bed and sleep for a few days.

And he wanted to go fishing. He liked to spend the afternoons next to the lake, and…what was he going to do now that Navi was gone?

Suddenly he understood why Dark had taken him fishing. Even if he hated the water, and the sun, and the fishes.

Dark opened the door, grinning from ear to ear, but his eyes still looked like fresh blood. Link wondered about why he thought about that when he looked at him, what Dark was supposed to be.

"I brought our guest! Oni, you don't count, you're family so no guest room for you, you're sleeping in the couch." Said Dark, sitting down at the table. Link pulled himself up, taking strength from the fear of what would happen if Sheik and Dark sat next to each other.

"I'm not family. I'm a god."

"You're like the famous cousin. So, you've got a temple?"

The deity sat next to him, and Link sat between Dark and Sheik, trying to not be too obvious about what he was doing.

"The fierce deity has one, but I don't think it can be said that I'm still the fierce deity."

"The fierce deity could then be considered something like extended family. We just inherited a temple."

"Shut. Up." Ordered Sheik.

Link felt something awkward that night at dinner. Like he'd arrived at something he'd missed all his life, without knowing what it was.


	9. Chapter 9

Zelda's face lost all color when Naboory told her that Sheik had disappeared.

"What do you mean 'disappeared'? He couldn't have just got up and went out the door!" she said, trying very hard to keep herself from shouting. Nabooru's eyes hardened.

"Well, I have no idea how he did it or where he is, but he's definitely not in the spirit temple."

"But it's impossible! We sealed him ourselves!" she said, turning towards the window. "This is madness. What are we going to do now?"

Rauru folded his hands, still hidden by his long robe.

"What we are _not_ going to do it let Impa know. She's been slowly decaying even with the memory block we put on her, should she meet with him and get back her memories, who knows what would happen?"

"Of course, of course, but…we must find him before anyone sees him. Much less Link. Goddesses, what will I do if he finds out I lied to him?"

"Maybe he would understand. We all made sacrifices, we all left things behind, and Sheik always said that he would do anything to ensure the safety of Hyrule and the destruction of Ganondorf. Back then we couldn't take the risk of asking him if he was willing to be the seal for Ganondorf's prison, but now…" said Saria, sitting on a small chair nearby.

"And what if he refuses to go back and be the seal now?"

"He can't refuse. If he doesn't goes back, Ganondorf will escape. Even now, the seal slowly fades."

"Impa will go mad if gets back her memories of her son. Even if Sheik accepts, she won't. Not after her loyalties have decayed so much these last years."

"And what if Link was the one who set him free?" asked Nabooru, and Zelda had to hold on to the wall to not faint.

"He couldn't have done that. He has no reason for going into the spirit temple."

"But he's the only one with enough power to set Sheik free."

"Maybe, maybe not. Some of Ganondorf's most powerful followers have got their memories back. Remember that crazy sorcerer from lake Hylia? I won't put it past them to have found the way to break the seal to Ganondorf's prison."

"But then Sheik would be dead now. If he dies, the seal will disappear completely." Said Nabooru.

"Sheik is not an easy man to defeat, much less to kill. I don't think he would be defeated so easily."

"But even if he was the most loyal to me, he still was hard to control" said Zelda, tapping her hands on the surface of the table in the center of the room. "Find him. I don't care how, but find him right away. And make sure Link doesn't knows about this. In fact…come on Saria, we'll go visit him and see if he knows anything. If it was him…we'll be the best ones to talk to him and Sheik. Let's hope they understand reasons."

"But what if they ask why did Sheik had to be the seal?" asked Nabooru, a cruel smile on her face. "Will you tell them, he's your half brother?"

"No one has to know that. And no one will."


	10. Chapter 10

Sheik said nothing when Link showed him his tiny house on the edges of the forest, far from any village or city. Oh, he had a lot to say, but nothing about what Link really was embarrassed about.

"I know it's not that much, I kind of made it in a hurry. Dark tried to help, but kept misplacing the tools, and falling asleep, and…well, I hope you don't mind spending the night here. We'll get going to the city tomorrow morning."

"It's very nice." He said, and Link sighed in relief.

Sheik looked at the rackety cabin made of wood again. On the left of the door was carved 'Dark wuz hier'. He laughed at seeing that, and Link peered closer.

"Oh, goddesses! Dark! What do you think you're doing?! Zelda could see that!"

"I was booored." Said the shadow from the window of the second floor, which looked like it had been built on a second thought.

Sheik smiled, the house reminded him of his own in Kakariko. He found he wanted to go see his mother before seeing princess Zelda. He'd avoided asking anything more about the sages, because he had to focus on what had happened to Zelda, and the world while he had been gone. But what to do after you find that you just missed nearly a decade of your life? He turned to Link, but couldn't find the strength to ask him. He still felt ashamed of his own actions in the war. Of pushing Link around, getting him up when he lost all strength and expecting him to save them all when he could barely piece back his own life.

Sheik looked down, still feeling the hole in his own chest. Suddenly, he felt betrayed. By the world, by the very people he fought for. He looked at Link push Dark and force him to erase the carvings. He wondered if Link felt like that.

"Link, I…" he said, and found he didn't have the words.

"Is there a problem?" asked Link, worry clear in his face. Sheik could always read him so clearly.

"No, I just…I wanted to know if you'd seen…Impa."

"Oh. Of course, I'm so dumb. I saw her a few months…ago…" Link drifted, thinking about how Impa had said that she never had a son. But she hadn't been so sure the last time he saw here, a the Death festivities. And if Sheik was indeed a real person, why couldn't Impa remember…?

"Link? Is she okay?"

"I…I think we should go to the shadows temple first. In fact, we should go right now."


	11. Chapter 11

"I get to be Link! I get to be Link!" kept chanting Dark while he looked at his reflection on the mirror. He still forgot to keep up the disguise and his eyes kept turning red. Oni looked up at him, then went back to the book in his lap.

"You already are Link. And so am I."

"…I get to be the _green_ Link! And you're just jealous that I'm the green Link, and you don't, because you're a freakin' giant."

"I am a god, see when you become a divine being."

"…Damn you."

"And I don't understand why I have to stay here with you. I could have helped them. No one thinks about the god until things go to hell, and then they expect us to fix everything."

"It's not that easy to hide a giant copy of Link, you know. At least I can hide in his shadow, so he always brings me along."

"Except now."

"Because I have to pretend like he's home if anyone comes to visit."

"Has anyone ever come to visit?"

"Once, Zelda, Saria and that red headed girl who works at the ranch. I keep forgetting her name. Lailon? Anlon? Something like that."

"The eyes."

"Shoot, _again?"_

While Dark looked at his eyes on the mirror, there was a knock on the door. Both links froze.

"I'll go hide in the second floor." Whispered Oni

"What?! Wait! What do I do now?"

"What do you mean? You're supposed to pretend like you're Link, it's not that hard, just be yourself but take out all the lame jokes and meanness."

"Asshat."

"Link! Are you home?" asked Zelda's voice from outside. Oni went to the second floor, and Dark licked his lips. Anyone else would have been fine, but with Zelda he would have to be extra careful to make sure she didn't notice the different energy around him.

"I'm coming!" said Dark, and after making sure his eyes were the right color and his voice had the right tone, he opened the door.

"Link, you're home." Said Zelda, Saria was with her, but she looked at him oddly. Dark pushed his panic down and nodded.

"Of course, was I supposed to go anywhere?"

"Oh, no, no. It's just…Hey, you seem much more animated."

Dark bit his lip. He'd forgotten about the pathological shyness.

"Ah, yes, I…I just came back from…fishing."

"Can we come inside?"

"I-It's a bit…well, I haven't cleaned. I didn't expected…any visits. Is everything alright?"

"Sure! Yes, everything's alright. Perfectly fine. Is everything alright with you?"

"Yes. Normal. I've…been here…resting, relaxing. It's alright."

"You look a bit pale." Said Saria, pushing to come inside. Dark had to keep a strong hand on his instinct to bite her arm off.

"I was sick these few days. I, uh, had to stay in bed and just went outside today."

Zelda sat on the couch, and motioned for Dark to sit next to her. Dark did so, but kept as far from her as he could.

"I always worry so much that you're so far from everything."

"I like silence. I need a lot of 'alone' time."

Zelda smiled.

"Yes, I see. Well, if it makes you happy…"

"It does. Very happy. All kinds of happy."

Zelda looked at him, and laughed.

"You say it so funny, without smiling. I hadn't heard you say a joke in years."

"hah, hah, hah. I think I found my sense of humor. So, everything's alright in the city?"

"Yes, perfectly." Dark nodded, and turned to Saria, giving the gentlest smile he could. Tricking Zelda had to do with faking his energy, but tricking Saria had to do with faking a childhood of very important memories.

"How have the sages been?" he asked, and Saria looked away.

"Fine. Very well. We've all been…very well."

"How's Impa been?"

"Impa? Why do you ask for her?" asked Zelda, rubbing her gloves together.

"Why shouldn't I? She's one of the first persons I knew outside the forest, and I like her a lot."

"Oh, she's…well, you know how she's been. Always locked in the shadow's temple, never going out. Who knows, she's so…reserved."

Dark nodded.

"And what were you sick with?" asked Saria, taking Dark by surprise. She was looking at the ceiling, where Oni hid. Zelda looked at her and then looked at the ceiling.

"The plague. You should go before you get it too."

"Really? And you were in bed for a few days?" asked Saria. Recognicion slowly rising in her eyes.

"Yes."

"And yet you look so well."

"I get better fast. I always got sick for just a few days when we were kids."

"But you don't get better fast from the plague, which comes from rats, and there are none here." Zelda got up, Dark could feel her light energy rising around her.

"Are you trying to say something?"

"Link would never talk like that." Said Zelda, her fists clenched.

"What do you mean? I _am_ Link. Zelda? What is wrong?"

"You…look different."

"Who are you and where's Link?!"

"I am Link." Dark got up, smirking. He could feel his eyes warming as the soft blue color faded. Saria screamed, and Zelda summoned a shield.

"You're the Shadow Ganondorf summoned to attack Link!"

"Yes, but 'summoning' is such a loaded word. He just took me from Link for a while. We had a nice chat, we're cool now. He left me to watch the house while he went out with his old friend Sheik. Which is actually amazing, isn't it? I mean, since Sheik was you, and you are here."

Saria stepped forward, green energy flowed fast around her hands.

"He must have captured Link and taken Sheik away to free Ganondorf!"

Dark blinked once, then again.

"What? To free Ganondorf? So you _did_ put him there, how funny. Both of them refused to believe that, but I always knew. Oh, you are _so_ busted now."

Zelda lifted her arms.

"I shall destroy you monster!"

Dark smirked and clasped his hands as if in prayer.

"Oh, God, save me from this witch!" he said.

Oni's sword flew in between him and Zelda, sticking to the floor and sucking her energy.

"Don't mock me." Said Oni.

"I was _praying for your intervention, Lord._"

Zelda screamed.

"What is that thing?!"

"Me." Said Dark. "He's also Link, but that is a bit complicated to explain now."

"I have feelings, you know. I'm part mortal."

"Scam! You said you were a god!" shouted Dark, as Oni bent to pass over the door to the living room and the women took a few steps back.

"I'm complicated."

Zelda took Saria's arm.

"This isn't over yet." She said, lifting her arm and conjuring a teleporting spell.

"You only wish it was over. You're all so busted when Link finds out!"

Both sages disappeared in a flash of light.

"_You _are so busted when Link finds out you blew your cover and told them about Sheik." Said Oni, Dark only growled in response.


	12. Chapter 12

"She should have already felt our presence." Said Sheik, walking towards the entrance of the Shadow Temple. Link followed closely. "Why didn't she appear when you played the song? She must have know from that moment. It's not like her to-"

Link pulled him back from the white vest just as Sheik's foot touched the edge of the false floor.

"I thought sheikah eyes could see the truth." He said with a soft smile. Sheik looked down at the hole he had been about to fall into, and his fists clenched.

"Goddesses, how could I be so foolish? I wasn't…I wasn't looking at the floor."

"I know. I tripped over the steps at the temple of time too." Sheik nodded, but his body did not relax. Link took a deep breath. "I mean…I just want to tell you that…I know how it feels like, to suddenly wake up and be told that a part of your life has been gone. That you've been…pushed away."

Sheik looked down, and his whole body relaxed.

"I…I'm sorry. I didn't…"

A purple light shone in the seal surrounded by torches in the entrance, and they both turned to see Impa descend on it. Sheik ran at her, but Link already knew Impa had changed a lot. But in their haste, he hadn't had a chance to explain it to Sheik. He didn't even knew if he would have been able to explain.

"Mother! Mother!" said Sheik, rushing to her.

Impa looked down at him with dull red eyes barely visible through the curtain of silver hair that fell over her face. Before becoming a sage, she had never let her hair down, or stopped wearing armor. Now she just wore simple brown pants and a tunic.

"…Mother? It's me, Sheik. Mom, are you alright?"

Impa tilted her head, not recognizing him.

"I don't know any Sheik. Who are you?"

"W-what do you mean? I'm your son, Sheik! By all the gods, what happened to you? Link, why does she looks like this?"

"I don't know." Said Link, approaching them with slow steps. Sheik took Impa's hand and helped her down the altar. She stumbled forward into him. "She's been like this all the time. I asked her why she looked so down, but she never told me anything. She said she was alright."

"Link, she's clearly _not_ alright!"

"But she's a sage now. I have barely seen her these past years, much less have talked to her. I only knew of her by the other sages, and they didn't say anything either."

"But the princess, why didn't she do anything? She must have realized her state! Why?! Why did she sealed me away?! Why did she let this happen to my mother?!" Sheik shouted, and hugged Impa, unable to fix what was wrong with her.

Impa's eyes opened wide when Sheik held her, and she pulled down his mask to look at his face.

"Who?...Who are…you?...S-sheik?"

"It's me, mom, Sheik. Remember me. They couldn't have erased me from your memory!"

Impa covered her eyes, throwing her head back. She pushed Sheik away and stumbled backwards.

Her screams resounded through the village, unleashing the storm that hung over the village in expectation.


	13. Chapter 13

"It was because she's your best friend since you were a baby! I swear, there was no way for me to trick her!" said Dark, looking down the blade of the master sword. Literally caught between the sword and the wall.

"And of course, you went and told them all about Sheik!"

"That was a bit of a mistake, I agree, but pleeease" he pressed more against the wall as the master sword touched his nose. "You'll only be hurting yourself."

"I won't be the one who has the ugly scar."

"You know you love me."

"You wish."

Link took away the master sword, and looked at the closed door. On the next room, Sheik took care of Impa. They had gone to the village to find a bed for her, and help to heal her. Instead, they had found the other parts of Link.

"And you didn't stopped him?" asked Link to the deity.

"You told him to be your replacement, not me."

"Because you're too tall! And you have no social skills!"

"It could also be said that _he_ has too many social skills."

"He's just jealous because he didn't get to pretend being you." Said Dark, walking towards the 'escape' range of the master sword. Link huffed and sheated the sword.

"So it was true then. That Zelda and the sages did this."

"Yeah, they said it themselves. They thought I was a servant of Ganondorf and I had freed Sheik to free Ganondorf. Somehow the two are linked, but then they just started shouting at me, no more explaining."

"But why?" asked a voice from the door, and the three links turned to look at Sheik. He had entered without no one noticing him. "Why would I set Ganondorf free? I fought against him just like you…all. All of you…This is confusing. I mean, what is the point of doing this to me? To just erase me from existence."

"I don't know. But I will find out." Said Link, standing in front of Sheik. "How's Impa?"

"She hasn't awakened. I checked her energy and found that it had been blocked, it must have been a side effect of the way the sages blocked her memories of me…She never really forgot me."

Link's hands itched for him to do something. He tried to say something helpful, when Dark pushed him against Sheik, and he ended up hugging him.

"Distance Hug. Isn't it awesome?" he whispered to the deity, just loud enough for Link to hear.

"I want a hug from Sheik too." Said Oni.

"I-I'm sorry Sheik! Really sorry, I…"

Sheik held on to his shirt.

"Thank you." He whispered. "Thank you, for still thinking about me. For still being…my friend, even when I was so cold at you. When I treated you like a thing. Thank you for not hating me."

Link embraced him, wanting to protect him, just like he'd wanted to protect himself, to have someone who could protect him too.

"Sheik. I never hated you. I was so sad when I was told the only friend I had was a lie. The only person I trusted had never existed. You meant so much for me, because even when you were cold and demanding with me, you were also cold and demanding with yourself, even more than with me. When Impa went to the temple, you knew what could happen to her, but you stayed behind. You kept yourself from going with her. I only wanted to be able to give you a moment of happiness. I fought for you, because I thought that if I won, you could finally stop being so hard on yourself. We could both be free and safe."

"We're leaving now." Said Oni, grabbing Dark and pulling him out of the room.

"No! Wait! We will never leave completely! Nooo! I wanted to see!" said Dark, pulling away from Oni's iron grasp.

Sheik's eyes softened, and he laughed. Link decided then, that he would fight whatever it took, just for ensuring that Sheik would have a life, just like him.

"I'm going with Link." Said Dark to Oni, after a few beers, he was leaning dangerously to the left. Oni just looked at him amusedly.

Inside the mask, and linked to Link and the shadow only by a very frail bond, he could barely understand them, their fears or their desires. But now, out of his prison and inhabiting Link's divine body, he felt much more…solid, more mortal. Not a repulsive feeling, but an odd one. It made him feel like he'd put on the wrong body. And in a way, he had. But anything was better than the mask, better than the darkness, and the ages shouting at an infinite black space he couldn't escape. They didn't call him the Fierce Deity for nothing, and he had a lot of very good reasons to be angry. But looking at Dark swing his glass, and try not to fall off the stool, he felt something he couldn't put a finger on, a kind of calmness he hadn't known in so long, it felt like forever.

"Although I agree that you shouldn't stay alone with Sheik, I think if Link is going to go face the most powerful sages I should be the one to accompany him."

"Then I get to stay with Sheik?"

"That's the problem, of course."

Dark huffed, and Oni smirked at him.

"There you are! In the bar, of course. You are corrupting a god, that must be a new record for you Dark." Said Link, walking towards them. It was late enough for the other patrons to be drunk enough to not really care about them, but they still wore the dark capes Link had given them to make sure no one recognized them. Oni pushed the hood of his back, he could barely see anything, and he would have serious problems if he wasn't tall enough to look down at everything.

"We were just deciding who would accompany you to the castle. You said one of us had to stay with Sheik, even though he said he didn't need any help. I don't think he needs one anyway."

"I'm not taking any chances. The sages and Zelda are searching for him and looking for any way to seal him again, and that is reason enough for one of us to be with him all the time."

"You just want to be with him always. Also, you were pretty good, but it happened a little fast, don't you think?" said Dark, winking at him. Link blushed furiously, and Oni refused to say anything at all. They were all, indeed, linked at a certain level, but to feel that you had to consciously use the bond. Which equaled to peering through the door.

"You are coming with me?"

"Am I? Great!"

"I mean, you are coming with me to the castle. To talk with Zelda."

"I don't think we'll talk all that much, with the way she was acting at the house. She still thinks I kidnapped you or something."

"I'll talk to her, you stay in my shadow. Oni, I need you to make sure nothing happens to Impa and Sheik while we're gone. If the sages appear, you are the only one who can stand up against them."

"You'll stand up real high. Try to not hit your head with the ceiling."

"We're Leaving." Said Link, pulling Dark away.

Oni walked behind them. He was starting to like the feeling being with them and having a purpose gave him. Boundaries, he decided, were just what he needed. No more empty, unending spaces.


	14. Chapter 14

Link demanded to enter the castle, but few people knew about him, so it took a while for him to get an audience. Only after Zelda had been personally informed that he was there.

They met at the castle gardens, and Zelda looked at him suspiciously. Around her were Darunia, Ruto, and Nabooru.

"How do I know you are the real Link?" asked Zelda.

"Because the fake one is right here." Said Link, and Dark rose from his shadow. Zelda gasped.

"Oh, Link! What has that creature done to you?"

"I took him fishing. I told you, we had a chat, we're cool now." Said Dark.

"Dark, let me speak."

"But Link! How can you keep such a creature with you?" asked Darunia "He'll stab you on the back as soon as he can! He's a monster!"

"I have already been stabbed on the back. And so have Impa and Sheik. What have you done? Why have you used them like puppets?"

Zelda's face lost all color, and she covered her mouth.

"Link, dear, please understand. We had to do it. It was the only way to seal the timeline in which Ganondorf is now imprisoned. We needed a link to tie both timelines, like a door to keep Ganondorf in the sacred realm." Said Ruto.

"But couldn't anyone else do it? Why Sheik? Why work so hard to erase him from existence? Why let Impa think she never had a son? She always remembered him! You knew it, you knew that the loss was killing her, and you didn't do anything to help her!"

The all looked away.

"It had to be him, and that's all." Said Nabooru.

"You didn't even know him!"

"But I knew what had to be done. He had to be the seal to Ganondorf's prison, and he always said that he would do anything to defeat him. So there, that's his wish."

But what will happen when he dies? He can't stay there forever, can he?"

Nabooru nodded.

"Yes. The shield won't let him age. He will be the seal, forever."

"No! No, no, no! I won't accept it!"

"Link, what are you saying bro'? You always knew of the sacrifices. I sacrificed a lot of people I loved too, but that was all for the greater cause. You need to think of the world. You need to realize that two lives aren't worth the rise of darkness."

"Two lives aren't worth it? Then what's next? Ten? A hundred? What is beyond us? When do you draw the line?"

"Link, please don't exaggerate. You had to make sacrifices too."

"Yes! And I know how it is! I'm sick, I'm sick of being a puppet of the world! I'm sick of you all wanting me to fit into the role of perfect hero when I just want to be left alone! I will fight for the world. But your coldness, and your refusal to treat me like a person…it has been enough."

"Link, if Sheik doesn't go back to the shield, Ganondorf will escape! You cannot really want this!"

"There must be another way! There must be a way to not sacrifice anyone like this. Even if that means I must fight him again. I will do it, if it means I will be saving a life."

"If another option is not found in time, all those years will be for nothing! All we fought for, all we sacrificed will be destroyed! Perhaps Sheik should think about that instead of hiding away."

"He's not hiding! We cannot trust you anymore and he's staying with Impa. I can't believe you let her sink to that state when you knew what was wrong with her."

"We did it for the good of many. Link, I'm sorry, and we don't like what we did, but we must think about the good of the world before the well being of those we love."

"Yes, I can see that."

"You said it yourself." Said Zelda, tears pooling in her eyes. "You said that saving the world was more important that our well being. You said that the fight would be worth it."

"The fight was worth it, but you seem to think that just because I will fight whenever darkness arises, you can treat me like a puppet. I'll search for a way to fix this, whether you help me or not."

"No. That is not possible. The Link I knew would never say that! The real Link would never put his own desires over the well being of the world!"

"Zelda, we barely saw each other in the war. I love you like I love my best friends, but you must understand."

"That cannot be true! This is one of Ganondorf's trickeries!"

"Dude, the guy isn't even out of the Sacred Realm, he can't even put up a fight now." Said Dark. Zelda turned her enraged eyes to him.

"You! You are the one who is corrupting him! This is your fault, you evil puppet of Ganondorf!" she lifted her arms and shot a ray of blue lightning at him. Link reacted and pulled out his shield to stand between them.

"No! Zelda, don't hurt him! We're the same person, if you hurt him, you will be hurting me too!" said Link, trying to see the sages through the smoke rising from his shield.

"So that's the problem. Well, it won't be so difficult to separate you two. We'll cut off the shadow, and then you'll see the truth."

"I am seeing the truth, and I don't want you to separate us!"

"Why? Why do you want to stay with a creature of darkness with you? Link, if you had only told me about this before…I could have helped you. We all could have helped you."

"But that's the problem. I don't want you to help me like that. You don't understand, he…he's a part of myself. I can't just get rid of him like nothing. I don't want to just separate from him and pretend like he never existed."

"Link, are you even listening to what you're saying now? You say that you want to keep your darkness, the thing we've always fought against. Can't you see how much it has corrupted you? You are effectively embracing darkness."

"Oh, not always, sometimes I have to hug _him_." Said Dark, holding to Link's shoulder. Link pushed him away.

"Not now Dark."

"Link, your judgment has been compromised, you will understand it when you have been liberated from that darkness that poisons your heart."

"Methinks we should get out of here, boss." Said Dark, and embraced Link. Before any of the sages could do anything, they had been enveloped by shadows, and fell down the darkness realm.

When Link opened his eyes again, they were just outside Kakariko village.

"I didn't know you could do that." Said Link, blinking around. They were alone.

"Neither did I, but what do you know, it good to try something new."

Dark got up and stretched, when he looked down at Link, his eyes had none of the fiery fury they used to. Link got up, pretty fed up with everything.

"What's up with you now? We're in trouble! They won't stop until they get rid of you and Sheik! Why are you always so happy when things get bad?"

Dark touched his nose.

"I thought, you really were going to get rid of me." He said, and kissed Link.

The touch of his lips, sent a dark feeling through his body, like he was giving himself to something he'd never dared to taste. The taste of Darkness.

And in the end, it wasn't as bad as he'd always thought.


End file.
